Derby County host Aston Villa in one of the weekend’s standout clashes in the Championship as new Rams manager Frank Lampard takes on his former teammate John Terry now as Villa assistant manager.

The Rams head in to the clash in excellent form, taking 12 points from their past six matches which includes impressive victories over West Midlands sides West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City.

Villa, in contrast, have won two and lost two under newly-appointed manager Dean Smith, and they head to Pride Park without a win on the road since the first game of the season – a 3-1 victory at Hull City.

The form of the two clubs suggests a home win is on the cards, and Derby will be boosted by Chelsea loan duo Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori being available for action after they missed the game against Birmingham.

The upcoming match, however, could be too soon for summer signing Martyn Waghorn who picked up an injury against the Blues and was replaced by Mason Bennett, who may keep his place after a terrific performance.

Lampard’s other selection headache comes at left-back with both Scott Malone and Craig Forsyth in contention, but he may pick the latter due to his extra height to deal with Villa’s threat at set-pieces.

The rest of the side who faced Birmingham keep their place, so here is how we believe Derby could line-up:

Tom Thorogood

I'm a 27 year old language teacher and writer based out in Mexico with a passion for football and swimming. I like to focus on the top European Leagues, especially La Liga, as well as the footballing development in Central and South America. My favourite teams include Derby County, Barcelona and Jagaures de Chiapas.